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Posted:
Jan 1, 2013
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A Year In Review: Happy 2013!

2012 has been a pretty good year in terms of reading, for me. I set a goal of reading 100 books for 2012 because last year I read 93 and thought I could probably do 100 this year, but unfortuately, I didn’t make it: I read an even 70 books this year. Not bad, but not quite the goal. I did start nursing school this year though so I had less time to read. I think for 2013 I am going to set a much more modest goal of 60 books.

The Best Book

It’s so hard to pick just one book that I consider the best I read this year, but I think I would choose Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir, a historical novel. I couldn’t put it down at all, and this was the book that got me interested in historical royalty fiction. Sort of my “gateway” book into that genre. 

The Worst Book

The book I felt was the worst I read this year is Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins, a Young Adult novel. I thought it was wildly inappropriate for a teenager book; characters whose motivations and behaviours I questioned; and was poorly written. Was not pleased reading it.

Novel Insights Book Club

This was me and my friends’ first year doing an online book club thingie. It’s a very small “club” but we enjoy it very much! We read one book a month, so 12 books total, although I did not actually manage to read all 12. We/I read The Dovekeepers (Alice Hoffman), Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculier Children (Ransom Riggs), A Reliable Wife (Robert Goolrick), The Boy In The Suitcase (Lene Kaaberbøl & Agnete Friis), Never Let Me Go (Kazuo Ishiguro), Four Sisters All Queens (Sherry Jones), Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn), and The Casual Vacancy (J.K. Rowling).  I, for one reason or another, was not able to find the time to read 3 of the books — The Zookeeper’s Wife (Diane Ackerman), The Shoemaker’s Wife (Adriana Trigiani) (actually, I am currently reading it but won’t finish it in time!) and Oil! (Upton Sinclair).

Classics Challenge

I joined Jessica’s (Thoughts At One In The Morning) Classics Challenge this year and did level 2 of the challenge, which was to read 4-6 classics books. A classic is defined as a book published pre-1980. I did actually manage to complete this challenge so hooray! My six books were The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, 1984, The Great Gatsby, Anna Karenina, The Invisible Man, and Casino Royale.

Hopefully I will be able to read lots of books in 2013! It will be a little tough to find the time since I am going to be in school for the full year (only off in August), so I am holding off on joining challenges and things like that as well. Happy new year!

Posted:
Dec 14, 2011
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In My Mailbox #14

In My Mailbox — Hosted by The Story Siren. This is where I get to share with you new books I’ve acquired the past week for reading, whether its a purchase, advanced copy, library books or books I borrowed from friends.

It’s been so long since I did an In My Mailbox post! I haven’t gotten any new books since October! While in theory this is a good thing because it means 1) I didn’t spend any money and 2) I got more time to catch up on reading, it didn’t really work out that way (thanks, school).

The Hitchhiker’s Trilogy by Douglas Adams. I have been wanting to read this for quite a while. My friend owns this boxset and I have been attempting to borrow it off of her (not making a great effort on my part though). I haven’t seen the boxset in the bookstores for a while, just the individual books, which are $10 each (there are 5 books in the series thus far, despite calling it a “trilogy”). I recently found out the bookstores are stocking the boxset again and were selling it for approximately $30, much cheaper than buying all 5 individually. Even better, it turns out I had enough reward points to knock $10 off the price, making it only $20 :)

Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber. This was my Waiting on Wednesday feature many weeks back. I was quite interested in it because it was apparently partly inspired by The Portrait of Dorian Gray, which I quite enjoyed reading. Soooo … now that exams are (almost) over, I got myself a copy =)

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. I have been recommended this book by a number of my fantasy-loving friends. For some reason, it kept slipping from my mind to actually check it out. I went Christmas shopping today, and of course, as usual, ended up wandering around the bookstore (it has a magnetic pull to me, haha)! This was very much an impulse buy — hope it doesn’t disappoint!

I also feel like pointing out that I bought these on 3 separate shopping occasions. I end up in the bookstore a lot …

Posted:
Nov 4, 2011
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49 Comments

Follow Friday #11

AHHHH I’m the feature this week!! HOW EXCITING!!! It’s a funny story actually. I’ve been very busy the past couple weeks trying to do three papers and two class presentations. Internet-obligations have been somewhat neglected. Anyway, I was working on the research for a paper when I kept getting all these e-mails of comments and new followers on my blog, and I was confused as to where they were coming from … until I finally found that email saying I was the feature tonight, in my spam folder, haha! It all makes sense now!

Also, the other Feature is http://theawesomemagicattic.blogspot.com/, so hop over there and give the other blog some loving too if you are able to! <3

Follow Friday is a meme hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read that helps connect the book blogging community. There’s also a fun question to answer for the week. Sounds fun, right? :) This week’s question is:

Q: Today’s Question is something new, an activity. We want to see what you look like! Take a pic with you and your current read! Too shy? Boo! Just post a fun pic you want to share.

Okay I don’t really want to take a picture of me with a book just because I’m sick right now and don’t look good at all, haha, so here’s an old picture of me I took when I first got my iPhone 4S a few weeks ago and was testing how awesome the new camera is:

And how about a picture of a cute kitty to make up for the lack of books in my photo?

Hehe. Anyway, leave a comment, follow, and I will definitely get around to following you back hopefully later tonight or tomorrow!! (As mentioned, there’s a paper to write and unfortunately it won’t do it itself …. wouldn’t that be amazing though? Self writing papers?!)

Posted:
Oct 11, 2011
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6 Comments

In My Mailbox #13

In My Mailbox — Hosted by The Story Siren. This is where I get to share with you new books I’ve acquired the past week for reading, whether its a purchase, advanced copy, library books or books I borrowed from friends.

Sorry there hasn’t been much activity around here in the recent week or two.  I’ve fallen behind with posting, commenting and replying to comment. Even this In My Mailbox post is a day late :( October is a super hectic month for me because 1) it’s midterm season 2) I’m preparing for the grand opening of the store I work in, and have been pulling a lot of 9 hour shifts and 3) I’ve been preparing several applications for nursing programs for next fall. So yeah … I have been reading. I’m just not doing as much as I normally do.

Still, I did get 2 new books.

THE SON OF NEPTUNE by Rick Riordan. I’m a shameless Percy Jackson fan, and of this spin-off series, The Heroes of Olympus, as well. I still remember how The Lost Hero had my jaw dropping as I read it, and I’m super excited to read book two, The Son of Neptune. Might not get around to it for a while, but I will eventually.

CINDER by Marissa Meyer. I’m so happy I got approved for a copy of this book from NetGalley!! Cinderella has always been my favourite fairy tale. And I love sci-fi, robots, cyborgs and all that jazz. So the idea of Cinderella and sci-fi, robots, cyborgs and all that jazz just blows my mind. In a good way (hopefully)!

Posted:
Oct 2, 2011
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2 Comments

In My Mailbox #12

In My Mailbox — Hosted by The Story Siren. This is where I get to share with you new books I’ve acquired the past week for reading, whether its a purchase, advanced copy, library books or books I borrowed from friends.

PARASITE EVE by Hideaki Sena. Only one book purchased this week. Gotta cut down on spending! Anyway, I heard of this book from Shannon, and I was really excited because I did not know that Parasite Eve (the video game) was based off of a book firstly. I’ve never played the actual game BUT I have this weird girl-crush on Aya Brea’s character anyway. Since this is my only book for the week, I’ll add in the Goodreads synopsis as well, so this post doesn’t look so bare, haha:

When Dr. Nagashima loses his wife in a mysterious car crash, he is overwhelmed with grief but also an eerie sense of purpose; he becomes obsessed with reincarnating his dead wife. Her donated kidney is transplanted into a young girl wiht a debilitating disorder, but the doctor also feels compelled to keep a small sample of her liver in his laboratory. When these cells start mutating rapidly, a consciousness bent on determining its own fate awakens, bent on becoming the new dominant species on earth.

And for comparison, here is how the beginning of the video game opens up:

The game begins with Aya Brea, an NYPD rookie, attending an opera with an unnamed date. During the opera, everyone in the building spontaneously combusts, except for Aya, her date, and an actress on stage named Melissa Pearce. Aya confronts Melissa backstage, and Melissa says that Aya’s mitochondria need more time to develop. Melissa then mutates into a beast and flees into the sewers, declaring that her name is now Eve.

Not sure if the game and the book have the same story, but I’m pretty excited.

Posted:
Sep 27, 2011
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16 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday – Books I Want To Read

First time participating in Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. (I don’t think I will be participating every week, just when there’s a particularly interesting topic). This week’s top ten is Top Ten Books I Want To Reread. I don’t reread books very often because there are so many books I want to read, and for most books, I feel reading it once is quite enough, but there are some I hope I can find the time to enjoy all over again.

  1. GAME OF THRONES by George R. R. Martin. And by Game of Thrones, I mean the first three books (not *as* crazy about books 4 and 5, but still love them). I am positively in love with this series. I can definitely read this over and over again … especially so I can catch all the clues that many readers use to support their theories on which direction the series is heading in, or what fate will befall which characters!
  2. HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS by J. K. Rowling. I am in the process of rereading the Harry Potter series right now, so I will get to this one eventually. I want to reread this one badly because it’s the only Harry Potter book I’ve only read ONCE! (The others I have read multiple times!)
  3. ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND by Lewis Carroll. I’m a Wonderland junkie, I must confess. I love all things Alice. I’ve read this numerous times, actually, but I would love to reread it again.
  4. I AM MORGAN LE FEY by Nancy Springer. The last time I read this was 9th grade, I believe. A truly captivating tale of Morgan le Fey, I love this book to pieces.
  5. HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE by Diana Wynne Jones. My most favourite book by Jones, and the one that introduced me to her work. Such an enchanting story … plus I have a super big crush on Howl, the main male lead.
  6. ANASTASIA: THE LAST GRAND DUCHESS, RUSSIA 1914 by Carolyn Meyer. From Scholastic’s Royal Diaires series of books. This is an old book I read in elementary school, but boy do I love it … It’s what got me super interested in the myth behind Anastasia, and Russian culture as a whole! Still am, actually!
  7. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO by Steig Larsson. Awesome book, I would love to re-read it before the Hollywood version of the movie comes out (because I am so seeing it).
  8. THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins. Also because of the movie coming out. And it’s a good book, of course. Only this first book though — book two was ‘meh’ and book three … let’s pretend it was never written.
  9. ATONEMENT by Ian McEwan. Very touching story. I don’t read historical novels much, but this quickly became a favourite.
  10. AUDREY, WAIT! by Robin Benway. ‘Cause it’s freaking hilarious.